


Bestial Upkeep

by Dreemurr00



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Basically a how to mounts/monsters guide, Educational Entertainment, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:35:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24547741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreemurr00/pseuds/Dreemurr00
Summary: Have you ever wondered how to care for your own fantasy mount?Look no further!This is a one stop shop for various beasts and mounts within the dungeons and dragons universe!
Kudos: 1





	Bestial Upkeep

A strongly built human fighter sits in the middle of an alley deep in a bustling city, dust from carts and foot travelers caking the air.

The human scrubs away at dirt coated hide of his griffin steed, who lays with its eyes closed, enjoying the combination of warm sun and cold water on its muscular build.

Grooming is essential for the upkeep of griffins in particular, after all, you wouldn’t like flying with mud soaked wings either.

A peak condition griffin should stand proud, it’s coat well trimmed, while it’s feathers, beak, and talons shimmer.

Most, if not all, griffins that are cared for by sentient beings were either captured and tamed at a young age or stolen as eggs and convinced that its caretaker is its parent.

This human stole his steed as an egg and has yet to regret his decision. Though he has had some troubles with upkeep. The griffin’s coat is rather long and it’s feathers lack the usual sheen that an eagle’s wings and head would have, though it still loves its papa, the man who is currently scrubbing its dirty flanks in an alley of a bustling city.

When it comes to training your griffin, you would be best off asserting dominance, and not offering it any chances to challenge your rule.

Griffins are extremely prideful, even as near infants, they refuse to back down till they know that they can’t go on. If a young griffin gives you trouble, scruff it and glare into its eyes. Griffins and other big cats use similar methods of asserting dominance and calming down the young’uns.

With an older griffin, the same should work if you’ve had to do it enough during their youth, though is the griffin was well behaved during infancy and begins rebellion in its teenage years, you can duel the young beast. It shouldn’t be too strong, and even if it is, if you have the balls to try to train a griffin to by your mount, you should have knowledge to dispatch an unhappy one.

This griffin keeper in particular came into the whole training business unprepared, and the beast who now lays so calmly as its being bathed, used to rebel and challenge all the time.

Through one such skirmish, the griffin acquired a scar over its right eye, as its papa didn’t have anything but his sword on hand to fend it off. That was the last time the griffin tried to rebel against the warrior who has cared for it its whole life.

The man finishes scrubbing the griffin’s thick hide and moves up behind its wings to rub out any muscle knots that would impede the beast’s battle and movement capabilities. After all, what is a griffin that can’t fly to a warrior who could walk faster than it in its wounded state?

A griffins musculature is much like what you’d expect, with the largest muscle groups around its front wings and back legs, as its back doesn’t need to bend as much due to its aerial maneuverability.

The man runs his hands up and down the griffin’s back, messaging with the heel of his hand when he meets resistance, tracing along the inside of the beast’s wings after the back is done with.

A griffin’s skeletal structure is exactly as you’d believe. Hollow bones all along it’s body, allowing it to fly despite of its innate girth. Sharp talons rest at the end of each pawed leg, which bend about a foot off of the ground, then at the joint where they meet the torso.

The man has finished with the message and set to polishing his steed’s gear.

For the most part, griffin riding gear is simple to understand, if you understand horse gear, or Benjie jumping.

A bit is placed into the beast’s mouth to allow reigns to easily control its movements. A thick leather harness with a saddle on it is wrapped around the beast’s front legs, then clipped together behind its wings and its hind legs, with the saddle resting roughly three inched behind the wings. Depending on circumstances, you could also use a collar to tie a lead to, or you could just use the reigns, or some gear sets incentivize both rider and beast to be lying flat for maximized movement potential.

You could also equip the griffin’s saddle with bags or sheaths for weaponry.

Most griffins wear little to no battle armor, with only the strongest being able to wear actual plate or anything really heavier than studded leather.

For other types of griffin riders, a mage might use heavier armor so that the griffin can take some hits while the rider casts from its back. Much the same for a ranger, and though not the main selling point of using a griffin, they can be rather stealthy when they need to be, and if trained properly, they can hide in the background rather well in forests or mountains.

When the man is done polishing his equipment, he slips a small metal bit into the griffin’s mouth with little resistance, then he piles on the rest of the beast’s gear.

Once the griffin has its saddle and bridle on, the man mounts the proud beast, clicking his tongue to start the beast moving.

It is only suggested to use spurs while riding a griffin if you either have a death wish or can confidently tell that the beast will be dead by the end of combat. Therefor, it is most affective to teach your steed to respond to clicks and whistles, which is just more humane in general.

Your average griffin doesn’t need more than a twenty foot running start to take off, though some trained for speed can do it in fifteen, and some bulkier ones can take upwards of thirty.

A griffin is a terrifying thing to have speed at you with 800 feet a minute while air born, it’s most dangerous offensive options are its claws, beak, and straight up running you over with its average 500 pounds of eight, plus the rider and their gear.

The man is air born now, holding tight to his mighty steed as they soar hundreds of feet up in the sky. Now he and his steed are just a passing bird overhead, or maybe one of those cursed magic rocks that players have a habit of knocking into the stratosphere.

But who knows.  
Well, I hope this has been a helpful guide to griffin care…  
I hid in a wine barrel for four hours to collect this data…


End file.
